ESPN Censors Anonymous Player's Comments About Dwyane Wade's Divorce

​Every month, ESPN the Magazine has one professional athlete ("Player X") write an anonymous column about some topic of the day. Recently, an NBA player wrote about the phenomenon of infidelity among basketball players. Among the bits of insight: "The caliber of the women is just ridiculous. When they put on those dresses, do up their hair and get their makeup going, they look fine as hell. I'll tell you one thing -- our natural instinct isn't to ask them out to lunch." And: "Get the prenup. If she won't sign, don't marry her."

But the sports gossip site Deadspin got a hold of the pre-edit draft of the column, which is much more explicit and contains several references to Dwyane Wade's recent divorce struggles.

What eventually ran still mentions Wade's situation but without overtly cheering him on. In the pre-edit draft, the anonymous player (there is no indication of whether he has ever played on the same team as Wade) adds in a "Nice work, Dwyane" at the end of a paragraph discussing Wade's seeking custody of his children despite the rigors of an NBA life.

Other parts cut out of the column included claims that both Tony Parker and Eva Longoria were unfaithful to each other in their marriage and that most professional sports marriages would be better if it involved swinging, an "open door" policy.

This section appears to have been cut wholesale:

"Here's a little secret: There are a couple of NBA families where a different type of marriage is practiced. Like Tiger, the guys are exploring other girls. Unlike Tiger, the guys are respectful of their wives.

"Yeah, I'm talking about an open-door policy.

"We're going to cheat anyway. We're going to experiment. Well, some guys are experimenting out in open, with their spouses knowing. Let me tell how it's done: I know a player who said to his wife, "Baby, I want to experiment. What do you think about that?" She asked why. "Well, this girl, she's fine as hell. I just want to see how she tastes." So, she said, "What don't you see in me that you see in her?" He explained it, they talked about it, and he got to mess around. The end, on that one, is To Be Determined. But here's what I'm sayin, ladies: Do you want a husband who cheats and then you get divorced anyway? I say, get it out in the open. Acknowledge it. Let your man experience someone else. See if he likes her more. If he does, well, now you know that you two weren't meant to be. Free the bird, see if he don't come back.

"And just so you don't think I'm a chauvinist: Guys, let your wives play, too. Watch her get pounded. See how that makes you feel about her. Maybe you'll learn some lessons, make some changes. Maybe your relationship will be stronger for it.

"I know this sounds crazy. But the world is going crazy. Something has to be done because this stuff -- the Tiger thing, the Brett Favre thing -- is happening too much. And it's not just us athletes. You're all cheating. You're all getting divorced. And it's hurting our country. It's affecting our youth. Think about it. It might just work."